Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

A Rapid Population Assessment Method For Wild Pigs Using Baited Cameras At 3 Study Site, Peter E. Schlichting, James C. Beasley, Raoul K. Boughton, Amy J. Davis, Kim M. Pepin, Michael P. Glow, Ryan S. Miller, Kurt C. Vercautern, Jesse S. Lewis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Reliable and efficient population estimates are a critical need for effective management of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa). We evaluated the use of 10‐day camera grids for rapid population assessment (RPA) of wild pigs at 3 study sites that varied in vegetation communities and wild pig densities. Study areas included Buck Island Ranch, Florida; Tejon Ranch, California; and the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA, during 2016–2018. Rapid population assessments grids were composed of baited camera traps spaced approximately 500 or 750 m apart. Two RPA grids were deployed per study site and each grid was deployed twice (4–6 months …

Investigating Bat Activity In Various Agricultural Landscapes In Northeastern United States, Katherine Harms, Emmanuel Omondi, Atanu Mukherjee

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Bats are estimated to provide between $3.7 and $53 billion annually in ecosystem services in the U.S.A. Determining how bats use land for foraging is important in planning agricultural landscapes to increase their presence and role in insect pest control. A research project was established in 2016 and 2017 to determine bat populations and activity differences between different land use management systems. Bat activity was monitored in 10 conventionally and organically managed systems in the presence of, and at a distance from the tree line. Two acoustic monitoring devices were used to record ultrasonic echolocation calls of bats. Organic systems …

Relationships Between Survival And Habitat Suitability Of Semi- Aquatic Mammals, Isidro Barela, Leslie M. Burger, Jimmy Taylor, Kristine O. Evans, Ryo Ogawa, Lance Mcclintic, Guiming Wang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Spatial distribution and habitat selection are integral to the study of animal ecology. Habitat selection may optimize the fitness of individuals. Hutchinsonian niche theory posits the fundamental niche of species would support the persistence or growth of populations. Although niche-based species distribution models (SDMs) and habitat suitability models (HSMs) such as maximum entropy (Maxent) have demonstrated fair to excellent predictive power, few studies have linked the prediction of HSMs to demographic rates. We aimed to test the prediction of Hutchinsonian niche theory that habitat suitability (i.e., likelihood of occurrence) would be positively related to survival of American beaver (Castor canadensis), …

Long-Term Changes In Avian Capture Rates During Twelve Years Of Active Grassland And Savannah Restoration, Katie Stumpf, Charles Muise

Georgia Journal of Science

The decline of grassland ecosystems throughout the United States has caused population declines of many bird species, especially grassland specialists, which has led to greater interest in restoring these dwindling habitats with a combination of natural fire regimes and the replanting of native vegetation. In the southeastern United States, several species of birds use grassland habitats at critical points throughout the annual cycle, as breeding or wintering grounds or as migration stopover sites. Since April 2007, we have operated 9–11 mist nets at Panola Mountain State Park, in Rockdale County, Georgia, in an area that is being actively restored to …

The Nebraska Bird Review, 2020 Annual Color Section

Nebraska Bird Review

Our theme this year is Odd Couples: two or more different species captured in the same photo frame. Examples appear on the first three pages of photos.

Blue Jay with Great Horned Owl in Plum Creek SRA, Dawson Co., 23 Dec. 2019. Photo by Elizabeth Winter.

Green Heron with Baltimore Oriole on Dark Island Trail, Merrick Co., June 2020. Photo by Colleen Childers.

Wilson’s Phalarope surrounded by Longbilled Dowitchers and Stilt Sandpipers along highway 30 east of North Platte, Lincoln Co., 12 May 2020. Photo by Boni Edwards.

Downy Woodpecker with Carolina Wren on suet feeder in photographer’s yard, La …

Winter Field Report, December 2019-February 2020, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As with any of these Seasonal Reports, there was plenty to entertain us and to contemplate this winter. The most obvious feature of this winter’s reports was the taxonomically widespread incidence of midwinter occurrences of species normally absent at that time. Snow, Ross’s, and Greater White-fronted Geese occurred in good numbers, and Jan to early Feb reports of dabbling and diving ducks often far from expected winter occurrence locations were notable. Among passerines, notable midwinter reports were of Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Mockingbird, Nebraska’s first record for Feb of American Pipit, and 6th winter record of Lesser Goldfinch. …

2019-2020 Christmas Bird Counts, Don Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

Mergansers reached a new high of 104 counted in nine circles, which topped the count of 97 from 2017. A single Surf Scoter was found in the Lower Platte circle, which was only the fourth time that this species has been found on a Nebraska CBC. Lone birds were also found at Lake McConaughy in 1999, 2010 and 2015. A good North Platte find were two Barrow’s Goldeneye. Several species, however, were counted in numbers much below the norm. The lone Wood Duck found at Branched Oak was the lowest count for that species since 2004, when they were missed …

Effects Of Inactivated Mycobacterium Bovis Vaccination On Molokai-Origin Wild Pigs Experimentally Infected With Virulent M. Bovis, Pauline Nol, Morgan Wehte, Richard A. Bowen, Suelee Robbe-Austerman, Tyler Thacker, Kristina Lantz, Jack Rhyan, Laurie A. Baeten, Ramón A. Juste, Iker A. Sevilla, Christian Gortazar, Joaquín Vicente

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The wild pig population on Molokai, Hawaii, USA is a possible reservoir for bovine tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, and has been implicated in decades past as the source of disease for the island’s domestic cattle. Heat-inactivated vaccines have been effective for reducing disease prevalence in wild boar in Spain and could prove useful for managing M. bovis in Molokai wild pigs. We designed an experiment to test this vaccine in wild pigs of Molokai genetics. Fifteen 3–4-month-old pigs were orally administered 10⁶–10⁷ colony forming units (cfu) of heat-inactivated M. bovis (Vaccinates; n = 8; 0.2 …

Economic Estimates Of Invasive Wild Pig Damage To Crops In 12 Us States, Sophie Mckee, Aaron Anderson, Keith Carlisle, Stephanie A. Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the results of a survey on invasive wild pig (Sus scrofa L.) damage and control in 12 US states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas). The crops chosen for this study represent the “second-tier” in terms of economic importance after the six crops that were the subject of Anderson et al. (2016). The survey was distributed by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) in the summer of 2019 to a sample of producers in each of the states (except California) of the following six crops: hay, pecans (Carya …

Rabies Management Implications Based On Raccoon Population Density Indexes, Dennis Slate, Brandi D. Saidy, Ashlee Simmons, Kathleen M. Nelson, Amy Davis, Timothy P. Algeo, Stacey A. Elmore, Richard B. Chipman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

An estimate or index of target species density is important in determining oral rabies vaccination (ORV) bait densities to control and eliminate specific rabies variants. From 1997–2011, we indexed raccoon (Procyon lotor) densities 253 times based on cumulative captures on 163 sites from Maine to Alabama, USA, near ORV zones created to prevent raccoon rabies from spreading to new areas. We conducted indexing under a common cage trapping protocol near the time of annual ORV to aid in bait density decisions. Unique raccoons (n = 8,415) accounted for 68.0% of captures (n = 12,367). We recaptured raccoons 2,669 times. We …

Vaejovis Lapidicola Stahnke, 1940: Hemispermatophore And Mating Plug From A Topotype Male (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), Brandon Myers, Richard F. Ayrey

Euscorpius

While doing research on an undescribed scorpion species, we needed to examine the hemispermatophore and mating plug of Vaejovis lapidicola Stahnke, 1940. Included are photographs and a description of these structures from a topotype specimen collected in the same “red sandstone quarry” (Flagstaff, Arizona, USA), from which Herbert Stahnke collected the original specimens in 1938.

Individual And Population Fitness Consequences Associated With Large Carnivore Use Of Residential Development, Heather Johnson, David L. Lewis, Stewart W. Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Large carnivores are negotiating increasingly developed landscapes, but little is known about how such behavioral plasticity influences their demographic rates and population trends. Some investigators have suggested that the ability of carnivores to behaviorally adapt to human development will enable their persistence, and yet, others have suggested that such landscapes are likely to serve as population sinks or ecological traps. To understand how plasticity in black bear (Ursus americanus) use of residential development influences their population dynamics, we conducted a 6-yr study near Durango, Colorado, USA. Using space-use data on individual bears, we examined the influence of use of residential …

Notes On Compsobuthus Vachon, 1949: Redescription Of C. Arabicus Levy Et Al., 1973 From Arabia, And Description Of Two New Species From North Africa (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Mark Stockmann, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

Two new species of Compsobuthus Vachon, 1949, are described: C. turieli sp. n. from Western Sahara and Morocco, and C. ullrichi sp. n. from Egypt. The species C. arabicus Levy et al., 1973 is redescribed based on analysis of the holotype plus extensive material from Oman and the United Arab Emirates. These species are compared to others from their respective regions: C. kabateki Kovařík, 2003, C. levyi Kovařík, 2012, and C. polisi Lowe, 2001, for which new illustrations and biometrics are provided based on types and topotypic material. The hemispermatophores of C. arabicus, C. turieli sp. n. and C. …

A New Species Of Ananteris (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Panama, Roberto J. Miranda, Luis F. De Armas

Euscorpius

A new buthid species belonging to the genus Ananteris Thorell, 1891 is herein described from Panama Oeste Province, Panama. This is the second Ananteris species known from this Central American country and clearly differs from Ananteris platnicki Lourenço, 1993, distributed in Costa Rica and Panama, by its smaller size and male having a different hemispermatophore and telson similar to that of the female.

Migratory Flyways May Affect Population Structure In Double‐Crested Cormorants, Steven J.A. Kimble, Brian S. Dorr, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Travis L. Devault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double‐crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) recovered from a demographic bottleneck so well that they are now considered a nuisance species at breeding and wintering grounds across the United States and Canada. Management of this species could be improved by refining genetic population boundaries and assigning individuals to their natal population. Further, recent radio‐telemetry data suggest the existence of Interior and Atlantic migratory flyways, which could reduce gene flow and result in substantial genetic isolation. In this study, we used 1,784 individuals collected across the eastern United States, a large panel of microsatellite markers developed for this species, and individuals banded as …

The Effects Of Dietary Linoleic Acid And Hydrophilic Antioxidants On Basal, Peak, And Sustained Metabolism In Flight‐Trained European Starlings, Wales A. Carter, Kristen J. Demoranville, Barbara J. Pierce, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Biology Faculty Publications

Dietary micronutrients have the ability to strongly influence animal physiology and ecology. For songbirds, dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and antioxidants are hypothesized to be particularly important micronutrients because of their influence on an individual's capacity for aerobic metabolism and recovery from extended bouts of exercise. However, the influence of specific fatty acids and hydrophilic antioxidants on whole‐animal performance remains largely untested. We used diet manipulations to directly test the effects of dietary PUFA, specifically linoleic acid (18:2n6), and anthocyanins, a hydrophilic antioxidant, on basal metabolic rate (BMR), peak metabolic rate (PMR), and rates of fat catabolism, lean catabolism, and …

Effects Of Deepwater Horizon Oil On Feather Structure And Thermoregulation In Gulls: Does Rehabilitation Work?, Katherine Horak, Nicole L. Barrett, Jeremy W. Ellis, Emma M. Campbell, Nicholas G. Dannemiller, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Impacts of large-scale oil spills on avian species are far-reaching.While media attention often focuses on lethal impacts, sub-lethal effects and the impacts of rehabilitation receive less attention. The objective of our study was to characterize effects of moderate external oiling and subsequent rehabilitation on feather structure and thermoregulation in gulls. We captured 30 wild ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) and randomly assigned each individual to an experimental group: 1) controls, 2) rehabilitated birds (externally oiled, rehabilitated by washing), or 3) oiled birds (externally oiled, not rehabilitated). We externally oiled birds with weathered MC252 Deepwater Horizon oil (water for controls) …

Optimal Bait Density For Delivery Of Acute Toxicants To Vertebrate Pests, Kim M. Pepin, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Oral baiting is a fundamental method for delivering toxicants to pest species. Planning baiting strategies is challenging because bait-consumption rates depend on dynamic processes including space use and demographics of the target species. To determine cost-effective strategies for optimizing baiting, we developed a spatially explicit model of population dynamics using field-based measures of wild-pig (Sus scrofa) space use, bait consumption, and mortality probabilities. The most cost-effective baiting strategy depended strongly on the population reduction objective and initial density. A wide range of baiting strategies were cost-effective when the objective was 80% population reduction. In contrast, only a narrow range of …

Brodifacoum Residues In Fish Three Years After An Island-Wide Rat Eradication Attempt In The Tropical Pacific, Shane R. Siers, Aaron B. Shiels, Steven F. Volker, Kristen Rex, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive rats are known to threaten natural resources and human health and safety. Island-wide rat eradication attempts have been increasing in number and scale during the past several decades, as has the frequency of eradication success. The most common method to remove all rats from an island is to broadcast anticoagulant rodenticide bait into every rat’s home range on the island. Broadcast of toxicants can put humans and other nontarget species in marine and terrestrial environments at risk of exposure. The persistence of anticoagulant residues is somewhat unknown, particularly in marine environments. Three years after ~ 18,000 kg of 25 …

The Abyssinian Art Of Louis Agassiz Fuertes In The Field Museum, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book documents the paintings and drawings executed by Louis Agassiz Fuertes during the Field Museum of Natural History’s seven-month expedition to Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in 1926–27. During that time Fuertes completed 70 field watercolors that illustrate 55 species of birds and four species of mammals. He also executed 34 pencil drawings, which illustrate 13 species of mammals and 11 species of birds, plus numerous miscellaneous sketches and small watercolors. This book identifies and describes the biology of all 69 species of birds and mammals illustrated by Fuertes and includes 32 color reproductions of Fuertes’s watercolors that were published as a …

Local Adaptation Constrains Drought Tolerance In A Tropical Foundation Tree, Kasey E. Barton, Casey Jones, Kyle F. Edwards, Aaron B. Shiels, Tiffany Knight

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Plant species with broad climatic ranges might be more vulnerable to climate change than previously appreciated due to intraspecific variation in climatic stress tolerance. In tropical forests, drought is increasingly frequent and severe, causing widespread declines and altering community dynamics. Yet, little is known about whether foundation tropical trees vary in drought tolerance throughout their distributions, and how intraspecific variation in drought tolerance might contribute to their vulnerability to climate changE.
2. We tested for local adaptation in seedling emergence and establishment with a full-factorial reciprocal transplant experiment including 27 populations and 109,350 seeds along a 3,500 mm precipitation gradient for …

Ungulate Activity: Effects Of Season, Hunting Pressure, And Plant Type, Alex Capone Lopez

2020 Symposium Posters

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremulodies) is considered priority habitat because it supports diverse understory flora and provides critical nesting and foraging habitat for wildlife. Aspen populations in western North America have declined due to fire suppression and browsing. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Washington addressed declining aspen with prescribed burns. However, aspen growth stimulated by burning was offset by browsing, especially by Elk (Cervus elaphus). Increasing elk numbers prompted initiation of a limited hunt to cull and disperse elk off refuge. To address the impact of these management strategies, we used remote video cameras to monitor …

A Literature Review Of Horn And Horn-Like Structures In Vertebrates To Correlate Placement To Function, Behavior, And Niche., J T. Cottingham

Biology Papers and Presentations

In this paper, the true horns of bovids are compared to the many horn-like structures found throughout the animal kingdom. Literary sources were reviewed for a variety of horn-like structures. The review was limited to extinct and extant terrestrial vertebrates. 3D models of these organisms' skulls and “horns” were created or acquired and 3D printed at the same scale to illustrate their differences and similarities and to analysis of their comparative size easier between large and small genera.

Ticks On Lizards: Parasite-Host Interactions Of The Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria Multicarinata) In Washington State, Emma Houghton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I investigated interactions between ectoparasites (ticks) and their host, the southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata). Alligator lizards are capable of complement-mediated killing of the Lyme disease spirochete carried by ticks and may potentially reduce Lyme disease prevalence by cleansing pathogenic organisms from ticks. Despite this, little is known about host-parasite dynamics in alligator lizards. My goals were to 1) assess patterns of tick presence (i.e. parasite load) on alligator lizards and 2) investigate potential negative effects of ticks on alligator lizards. I sampled lizards during the summer of 2019 near Catherine Creek, along the Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington. …

Ticks On Lizards: Parasite-Host Interactions Of The Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria Multicarinata) In Washington State, Emma Houghton

All Undergraduate Projects

I investigated interactions between ectoparasites (ticks) and their host, the southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata). Alligator lizards are capable of complement-mediated killing of the Lyme disease spirochete carried by ticks and may potentially reduce Lyme disease prevalence by cleansing pathogenic organisms from ticks. Despite this, little is known about host-parasite dynamics in alligator lizards. My goals were to 1) assess patterns of tick presence (i.e. parasite load) on alligator lizards and 2) investigate potential negative effects of ticks on alligator lizards. I sampled lizards during the summer of 2019 near Catherine Creek, along the Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington. …

Genetic Analysis Of The Endangered Gray Bat Species (Myotis Grisescens), Emma Fitzgerald

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

This study attempts to analyze the genetics using specific haplotype sequences of the endangered gray bat to determine genetic events that have happened in the past as well as determining how the species population has changed over time. We were able to conduct a Tajima’s D test to investigate whether a potential bottleneck has occurred. A linear regression of the genetic vs. geographical distance was produced to investigate the patterns of haplotype distribution. The species past distribution was compared to the current distribution using known collected specimens. A map of future predictions was constructed using present and future climate layers …

Spring Field Report, March-May 2020, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Although there were numerous early arrival dates, most were in the range of historically earliest expected dates; notable, however, was a lone record-early Whiterumped Sandpiper, nicely photographed. Record late by a month was a juvenile Redtailed (Harlan’s) Hawk, also confirmed by photo. Perhaps most prominent this spring were the large numbers of several species. Most eye-popping were record spring totals of 22 Glossy Ibises, 11 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 14 Veeries, including five in the Panhandle, 48 Gray-cheeked Thrushes, 20 Bay-breasted Warblers, not long ago a rare bird in spring, 45 Golden-winged Warblers and 27 Canada Warblers, both of which were about …

The Nebraska Bird Review, Volume 88 March 2020 Number 1

Nebraska Bird Review

Winter Field Report, Dec. 2019 - Feb. 2020, by W. Ross Silcock …2

2019-2020 Christmas Bird Counts …18, 27-41

Annual Color Photo Section …19-26

Annual Treasurer's Report for 2019, by Jan Johnson …42

Subscription and Organization Information …43

Obituary: Thomas Henry Kunz (1938–2020), Allen Kurta, Winifred F. Frick, M. Brock Fenton, Polly Campbell, Gary F. Mccracken, Robert M. Timm, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Dr. Thomas Henry Kunz, an internationally recognized expert on the ecology and behavior of bats and Professor at Boston University, passed away on April 13, 2020 in Dedham, Massachusetts, at the age of 81 as the result of complications from COVID-19. “Tom,” to his many friends and colleagues, was born on June 11, 1938 in Independence, Missouri, to William H. and Edna F. (Dornfeld) Kunz. He married Margaret Louise Brown on December 27, 1962 in Faucett, Missouri, Margaret’s hometown. Two children were born to Margaret and Tom—Pamela Kunz (Jeffrey Kwan) and David Kunz (Nicole, née D’Angelo), and five grandchildren.

As …

Intraspecific Aggression Towards Common Bottlenose Dolphin Calves, Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Errol Ronje, Sarah Piwetz, Heidi Whitehead, Keith D. Mullin

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Infanticide has been widely documented throughout the animal kingdom, and has generally been viewed as an evolved, or adaptive behavior for the perpetrators. Infanticide motivated by increased sexual access to females with calves, or the elimination of potential genetic competition in the form of calf-directed aggression or infanticide, has been proposed for delphinids including killer whales, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Guiana dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins. However, reports of intraspecific aggression towards bottlenose dolphin calves are relatively infrequent, and accounts of confirmed infanticide are rarer still. Reporting instances of intraspecific calf-directed aggression aids researchers to better understand the socio-behavioral context of these …